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When Things Get Real: What Combat Operations Taught Me About Agility

Abstract/Description

Agile delivery has many similarities to military operations at both the team level and large-scale coordination. As a U.S. Army artillery officer deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), I had the unique experience of learning what is critical to effective team, unit, and organizational effectiveness during the chaos of war. I believe we have a lot to learn from the parallels to agile teams and scaled agile delivery.

How can the military be an example of agility? The civilian perspective of the military is command and control, standard operating procedures, and hierarchical management: everything anti-agile! The truth is… Yes, it is a command and control environment, based on standard operating procedures, with a hierarchical design; Everything designed to be agile in the midst of the chaos of combat… even at scale.

In this workshop, I will take the attendees along a journey of discovery about execution realities in combat and what lessons can be learned. We will discuss what they can immediately do to begin to implement critical characteristics and techniques to assist their teams. They will learn what needs to be exist to allow effective decision making in the midst of chaos. Regardless of role, title, or environment they have a choice to be a leader.

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